by George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports

by George Schroeder, USA TODAY Sports

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Sandwiched between his mom and his wife, Bob Stoops had a big grin and one request for the photographer: "You got the scoreboard?"

High above and behind them, it still burned: Oklahoma 35, Notre Dame 21. And don't blame Stoops for wanting to capture the moment. It was a big one. Yeah, there was something extra for a Catholic kid â?? "an Irish Catholic kid," he corrected â?? from Youngstown, Ohio, to beat Notre Dame. And for Oklahoma?

"Big-time for the program," junior quarterback Blake Bell said.

Never mind that it was a rare meeting of two big-time programs, a classic matchup of two of college football's most storied powers. But on this September afternoon, it was also a matchup of afterthoughts on the national scene. In the late afternoon sun, as Stoops posed for family photos on the field, a couple of things had come into focus:

Notre Dame is deeply flawed, nothing like the squad that rolled unbeaten through last season. The Irish are 3-2, but haven't played as well as the record, really; the magic of 2012 seems long ago. A smattering of boos sounded from the stands when, trailing 21-7 with 42 seconds left in the first half, Brian Kelly opted to take a knee rather than chance a mistake.

"Forty-(two) seconds wasn't enough time in my estimation," the coach said afterward.

And time has finally run out on Notre Dame's run of national relevance. Afterward, Kelly said the Irish "have to play better individually, collectively, across the board" â?? but it's not clear they can.

It's an atypical Oklahoma team, too. Although the No. 12 Sooners might soon nudge their way into the Top 10, it's too soon to suggest they're good enough to keep moving up. They're not swarming with obvious first-round draft picks. A young defense is decent and improving â?? and against the Irish, opportunistic â?? but nothing close to dominant. The offense is a clunky mix, mostly because it's still unclear just what the Sooners have in Blake Bell, who made his second start and was unspectacular but more than solid enough.

But beating Notre Dame was a significant accomplishment on several levels for the Sooners. ("This is what college football should be about," Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. "Teams like this are supposed to play against each other.") Oklahoma entered the day 1-9 in the series, but forget the pageantry and stick with more recent, troubling history:

Since playing for the BCS National Championship after the 2008 season, Oklahoma has won one Big 12 championship and shared another. But the Sooners were also 6-12 against ranked opponents in that span, and had lost five of their last six.

"We've taken a lot of shots over the last year," Mike Stoops said, "and rightfully so. We earned all of them through our lack of play. But we've got a better team overall."

When Oklahoma started the season ranked No. 16 â?? the first time since 2000 not in the Top 10 â?? no one quibbled. And even after starting 3-0, it was hard to know what to make of the Sooners. If it still isn't clear, that's only because of the Fighting Irish's obvious issues. Though No. 22 Notre Dame isn't likely to be ranked much longer, winning here against this team remains a big deal. What seemed different on Saturday was toughness, or moxie, or something â?? an intangible that's hard to define but glaring when absent.

The Sooners were stung this week when Notre Dame's 30-13 victory last year in Norman was brought up and described as a rout. "It stuck in our craw," Mike Stoops said. With six minutes left, that game was tied at 13, but the Irish pulled away. It was a key moment in their run to an unbeaten regular season and the BCS championship game â?? and just another in a string of disappointing performances by Oklahoma.

This time, the Sooners made the plays, early and late. They grabbed a 14-0 lead in the first three minutes with two interceptions of Tommy Rees and then, after Notre Dame had cut the lead to 27-21, they grabbed momentum, driving for the clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter.

"We all have a lot of confidence," Bell said. "It feels like this team is really going in the right direction."

Much was made of Oklahoma's switch during the offseason to mobile quarterbacks, but the Sooners have unveiled a physical running game, too. After rushing for 15 yards on 16 carries in the loss to the Irish last season, they had 212 yards on 42 carries Saturday. But Bell's continued emergence was a huge part of the win, and a bigger reason for Oklahoma optimism going forward.

He isn't a precision passer like Sam Bradford and Landry Jones. Although he was primarily known going into the season for his short-yardage runs in the "Belldozer" power formation â?? something Oklahoma oddly didn't use against the Irish â?? Bell is not a quick, elusive runner like Trevor Knight, who was named Oklahoma's starter in preseason before getting injured.

But in his second start, Bell was poised. Although he misfired on several passes, his only obvious bad decision was not getting properly hydrated; after cramping, he left the game and got in IV infusion of fluids in the locker room. ("I'll do better," he promised.)

Bell returned to take Oklahoma 75 yards in five plays. The last, to Sterling Shepard, was a quick slant out of a power running formation on third and short â?? when Notre Dame had loaded up to stop Bell or the Sooners' running backs. Shepard turned upfield and outraced the secondary for a 54-yard touchdown. Bell hit Shepard again for the two-point conversion and a two-touchdown lead with 12:24 left.

Three more Notre Dame possessions ended in three-and-outs. Bell and the Oklahoma offense ground away the last 5:39. When he took a knee, and time had finally run out on the Irish, the Sooners celebrated â?? what, exactly?

"We can be better, but we're a good football team," Mike Stoops said. "I think our players know it. We've got a lot of confidence in what we're doing right now. It's a lot like Notre Dame a year ago. It's contagious in a lot of ways â?? and now they're starting to get a feel for what they're doing."

The comparison is too much, or at least much too soon. (If this run continues, the better parallel, anyway, might be to Oklahoma, 2000: a team that wasn't as talented as several of Bob Stoops' later squads, but won it all.) Don't go anywhere near there yet.

"We've got a chance to continue to be really good," Bob Stoops said. "But we're a work in progress. It's only our fourth game."

But their fourth victory was their biggest in a while. Something worth celebrating â?? just make sure to get the scoreboard in the picture.